Navantia Sistemas participates in the NATO “Dynamic Messenger” DYMS23 operational experimentation exercise focused on maritime unmanned systems, which brings together military, industry, and academia to increase innovation as well as drive capability and interoperability development. The exercises are taking place in Portuguese waters off the Troia peninsula during the second half of September. It is not the first time Navantia has participated in this annual NATO event, in 2021 Navantia participated in the REP(MUS) (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems) exercises and in 2022 in the DYMS exercises, but this time with an updated version and improved functionalities. During this year’s exercises, the NAIAD system (Naval Advanced Integrated Autonomous vehicles Defence system), developed by Navantia, demonstrates enhanced unmanned vehicle integration capabilities further improve the integration of unmanned systems both with an onboard Combat Management System (CMS) and also with an ashore Control and Command (C2) centre as well as the communications between them.
This year the NAIAD system has been installed on another Spanish Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel “Furor” (P-46) and whilst in transit from Troia to Sesimbra, it deployed, controlled and monitored various unmanned vehicles and, using different types of communications, it then transmitted the data and videos received from the unmanned vehicles between the NAIAD on board the Furor and the NAIAD on land installed for these tests at the Troia Naval Base. The NAIAD System provides a quantum leap in the standardization of control and command of unmanned systems within the NATO protocols that are currently being defined, together with enhancing the innovation possibilities of NAIAD in European projects. Additionally, these exercises provide the Spanish Navy with an opportunity to test operational concepts and doctrines for the use of unmanned vehicles in naval tactical operations. For Navantia it is especially important because it is an opportunity to show-case the novel NAIAD system and its capabilities, which until now nobody has developed and tested.
